


Bloom

by blvckwatch



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Middle School, Unrequited Crush, gareth grizz visser having a life crisis at 12 yrs old, this is. very self indulgent writing about grizz figuring himself out and luke being a good friend.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 14:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19378594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blvckwatch/pseuds/blvckwatch
Summary: As if middle school wasn't hard enough, Grizz just had to go and get a crush on his best friend (who also happens to be a dude).





	Bloom

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rockfort](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockfort/gifts).



> started writing this based off of this [tweet](https://twitter.com/grizzervizzer/status/1142252712391663616). thx charlie for the idea and encouragement!

Gareth Visser is not excited for 7th grade.

It’s the only thought running through his head as he stares at the class schedule that’s in front of him. When his mom had called him downstairs and told him that he got a letter, Gareth was hoping it was something _not_ middle school related.

It’s not like he’s going to be the new kid that knows nobody. He’s probably going to end up seeing the same people he’s seen for most of his life. From what he knows, there aren’t a lot of elementary schools feeding into New Ham Middle School. Considering how most of the town already knows each other, Gareth figures he won’t have much of an issue making friends with kids who he’s already familiar with. Besides, his best friend and teammate, Luke, was going to be there with him so it’s not like he has much to worry about. Luke was always better at the whole socializing thing. Gareth kind of just, tagged along for the ride.

It’s the uncertainty of it all that really makes Gareth anxious.

Even if he doesn’t have to worry about making friends, he’s more terrified of the concept of going to a newer, bigger school. His parents have driven him past New Ham plenty of times on the way to football practices, but it never really hit him until now that he’s actually going to be _going_ there. Having his new class schedule for the upcoming year in front of him only makes him more anxious about it all. He was used to _worrying_ about a singular classroom. How did they expect him to find and remember where seven different classes were? What if he got lost? What if his teachers didn’t like him? He reaches down to try and stop his bouncing leg, a visible sign of his growing anxieties.

Gareth is only distracted by the incoming text notifications on his phone. He rushes to open them when he notices who they’re from.

> **Luke:** yo grizz u get ur schedule yet
> 
> **Luke:** ??????
> 
> **Luke:** wanna see if we have the same classes

He grins at the nickname. He honestly should be used to it by now, since that’s what Luke’s been calling him for over a year now. Gareth never thought his name was that hard to say, but Luke always seemed to have trouble with it. After a particularly intense game that involved a lot of tackling on Gareth’s end, Luke had said that he ‘looked like a grizzly bear out there on the field.’ He had thought nothing of it at first, but a few weeks after playing their first few games together Luke had began referring to him as ‘Grizz’ instead. His reasoning was simple – Gareth was too hard for him to say, ‘Visser’ was way too formal, and ‘Grizz’ worked perfectly on account of Gareth’s size and strength. It quickly caught on among their other teammates as well and if he’s being honest, he doesn’t remember the last time any of them called him Gareth.

Maybe it’s time he started referring himself as Grizz too.

Gareth quickly types out a reply and attaches what he hopes is a clear picture of his class schedule. He briefly fidgets with his phone while waiting for his friend to finish typing his response.

> **Luke:** sweet
> 
> **Luke:** i think we have pe and history together :D
> 
> **Luke:** heres mine

A feeling of relief washes over him as he reads Luke’s texts. Even though he isn’t scared about meeting new people, a part of Gareth was terrified of not having at least one class with someone he already knew. He curiously scans over the slightly blurred image of Luke’s schedule.

While Gareth is happy that they’re basically going to be seeing each other every day, he was hoping that Luke would’ve chosen the same electives so that they’d have a higher chance of being in another class together. He can tell he’s being unreasonable though and pushes those thoughts aside. Aside from his core classes, Luke had decided to take Spanish and an art elective.

Another text notification pops up at the top of his screen.

> **Luke:** u done looking at it ???
> 
> **Grizz:** Yea
> 
> **Grizz:** Feels kinda weird though
> 
> **Luke:** ????
> 
> **Luke:** how
> 
> **Luke:** its a schedule
> 
> **Grizz:** Yea i know im not dumb
> 
> **Grizz:** Its just weird moving to another school yknow
> 
> **Luke:** do u want to stay back with the 1st graders
> 
> **Luke:** bc noone is stoppin u
> 
> **Grizz:** Shut up luke
> 
> **Grizz:** I just dont like feeling like im old
> 
> **Luke:** u realize
> 
> **Luke:** we r 12
> 
> **Luke:** WE ARENT EVEN 13 YET

He starts typing out a response but doesn’t get the chance to finish his own message before Luke sends another quick series of texts.

> **Luke:** like
> 
> **Luke:** its just middle school
> 
> **Luke:** it aint that deep why u swimming 

Gareth sighs in frustration.

He wishes he could express the feelings that he has in way that would make sense to Luke. As much as he appreciates his best friend, Luke doesn’t always get where he’s coming from. Gareth doesn’t think you have to be a certain age to be scared about change and the concept of growing up. He’s sure that it’s something that everyone has worried about at least once. He deletes whatever he was trying to type out and flips his phone over, placing it face down on the dining room table.

Leaning back in his chair, he vents his frustrations out loud to himself.

“So what if I’m not a thirteen yet? Is he _not_ scared of all this like – yeah it’s just _school_ but – it’s scary! Does he just not understand? How do I even _get_ him to understand I don’t even _know_ how to explain it! God, this is so– “ He abruptly stops mid-sentence when he hears a voice call down from upstairs.

“Are you okay down there?”

“Yeah dad! I’m good!”

There’s a beat of silence from both sides.

“Alright, Gar! Just checking in.”

“You really don’t have to!” He yells back in response.

Gareth lets out another sigh. Talking to himself was just something that Gareth did. It was something that happened when he was frustrated or sad when nobody else was there. It felt good for him to express whatever he was feeling out loud. Normally, no one was around to hear him. He normally kept his outbursts quiet, but he probably got careless today. While he knows his parents aren’t particularly annoyed by them, he didn’t really want to risk other people finding him weird or annoying because of it.

Laying his head down on the table, Gareth pointedly ignores the vibrations he can hear and feel coming from his phone.

He’s able to ignore the urge to check his phone for a total of five minutes.

There’s one missed call and a couple texts from Luke which doesn’t come as a surprise to Gareth.

> **Luke:** hey u still there
> 
> **Luke:** grizzzzzzzzzzzz
> 
> **Luke:** r u mad at me:(
> 
> **Luke:** im sorry for being a dick.
> 
> **Luke:** well tackle middle school together bro
> 
> **Luke:** we got this. u and me
> 
> **Luke:** we’ll*

He feels kind of bad for leaving Luke hanging. Despite the misunderstandings they sometimes go through, its nice to know that they can work past them quickly. Gareth knows that Luke would never turn his back on him if they were in the middle of something more serious.

> **Grizz:** Sorry
> 
> **Grizz:** Im not mad its ok
> 
> **Luke:** dude dont say sorry its my fault
> 
> **Luke:** ur good
> 
> **Grizz:** No it was dumb anyways
> 
> **Luke:** it wasnt dumb
> 
> **Luke:** shits scary and ur rite
> 
> **Luke:** but its still summer
> 
> **Grizz:** We start in like 2 weeks dude
> 
> **Luke:** ye and
> 
> **Luke:** its still summer
> 
> **Luke:** wanna come over tmrw? we cuold play a game or smthn
> 
> **Grizz:** Could*
> 
> **Grizz:** Did u ever finish that new one
> 
> **Grizz:** The last of us????
> 
> **Luke:** no and fuck u
> 
> **Luke:** but u should come and we can beat it as a duo
> 
> **Luke:** >:)
> 
> **Grizz:** Hell yea

Even though the threat of middle school is still looming over his head, Luke has managed to distract him from it for the time being. They finalize their plans for the next day and Gareth can feel his anxieties about the upcoming school year slowly fade away to the back of his mind.

Although Gareth “Grizz” Visser is still not excited for 7th grade, he’s looking forward to spending his last two weeks of freedom with his best friend, Luke Holbrook.

**Author's Note:**

> this is rlly self indulgent yall the idea of a small baby grizz figuring himself out???? and going thru the whole process of having a gay crush on their best friend???????? and just growing up??? becoming who he is today?? shits got me emotional man. anyways thx salena for the one iconic luke tweet and also thx to kenzie for the title. until next time folks


End file.
